According to police, nine Hindu pilgrims have been killed after a militant attack in Indian Kashmir

Armed men attacked a bus carrying Hindu pilgrims in Indian-administered Kashmir, which then plunged into a ravine, killing at least nine people, police said on Sunday.

“Initial reports suggest that militants were waiting in ambush and firing at the bus,” police officer Mohita Sharma told Agence France-Presse.

“The driver lost control and fell into the deep ravine. Nine people died and 23 were injured.”

The accident occurred near the town of Reasi in the south of the disputed area as the bus was returning from a popular Hindu shrine in the area.

The leader of the opposition Congress Party, Mallikarjun Kharge, condemned the “cruel terrorist attack” in a post on the social media platform X.

Modi’s “boastful propaganda of bringing peace and normalcy … rings hollow,” he said.

The conflict claimed the lives of tens of thousands of civilians, soldiers and rebels.

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Modi’s BJP claims ‘historic’ election victory in India despite narrow majority

Modi’s BJP claims ‘historic’ election victory in India despite narrow majority

Since Modi’s government lifted the region’s limited autonomy in 2019, violence and anti-Indian protests have declined dramatically.

Since the campaign began in April and ended this month’s vote, five rebels and an Indian Air Force corporal were killed in clashes. Two suspected rebels were also killed in a firefight with soldiers on June 3.

But voter turnout was 58.6 percent, according to the electoral commission, 30 percentage points more than in the last vote in 2019 and the highest in 35 years.

No separatist group called for a boycott of the election – a first since the armed uprising against Indian rule in the area in 1989.

India regularly accuses Pakistan of supporting and arming the rebels, an accusation Islamabad denies.